Amazon.com

Fred H. Tuttle is the man with a plan. At 73 years of age, the retiree discovers he cannot pay his property taxes and that his elderly father and old car need costly attention. Unable to resume dairy farming, Tuttle follows his father's advice and runs for U. S. Congress, because it is the highest paying job an inexperienced man with a 10th-grade education can get.

This spoof documentary follows the travails of Tuttle's Regressive Party as it slowly steals away votes from slick incumbent William Blachly. The public quickly figures out that Tuttle may be a charming old coot with no political sense, but Blachly is at best an ineffective congressman and at worst a thief. While Tuttle is kissing babies and attending fairs, Blachly stoops to spying on Tuttle and setting him up for a scandal. Tuttle and Blachly play themselves. Fake news shows, TV advertisements, and campaign strategists pepper the documentary with realism. Although it is a comedy, the video launches some very fair criticisms at the campaign and election processes. Note that after the success of this film, Fred Tuttle really did run for Congress! --Margaret Griffis ... Read more

Reviews (8)

RIP, Fred Tuttle
Sadly, Fred Tuttle passed away on October 4, 2003. We sure coulda used him running for President!

More news about Fred...
Fred is alive and still pretty well in Tunbridge, and can be seen (sometimes nearly run over) walking from his home to town and back most days. He uses a cane to get around now, but still has the same terrific smile, and never hesitates to say "hello" and share a friendly word or two. If you can find it, pick up the CD "Fred Speaks" on which he tells stories of his and his community's past, with great humor. Hearing his history ( the real one, not just the one for the movies)brought tears to my eyes when I realized just how quickly these folks are passing from our lives, and taking a huge piece of the core of Vermont with them. Makes you want to go ask an older person for a few stories before it's too late.

This is a wonderful movie
I saw this movie twice in the movie theatres and have been looking for it on video for years. It chronicles a memorable political campaign by a candidate who runs for office because he needs the money, and whose hysterical campaign slogans include "Spread Fred" and "don't ask why Fred Tuttle, ask why not?" One of the best, and certainly most enjoyable, political spoofs I've seen, and which launched its one-of-a-kind star, Fred Tuttle, a homegrown Vermonter, into a real life campaign for political office.

'Tame" humor that really works!
"Man With A Plan" follows the misadventures of a loveable old geezer, Fred Tuttle....as he tries to get the people of Vermont to vote him into the senate.

Fred Tuttle is a nice enough guy, not a rocket scientist by any stretch, but a man of the people. Being desperately short on money, Fred decides he wants to run for congress....and takes a darned good shot at it (going door-to-door, making an acronym out of his name that makes absolutely no sense, etc)....and wins a few hearts along the way. But this is no sunny path, for the waters of politics are clouded and competitive. His one and only opponent, a stiff old congressman, sees Tuttle as a minor threat to his long reign as senator of Vermont, so he begins spying on him, looking for a way to destroy his campaign.

You'll laugh yourself sick as you see this absent-minded old man blindly overcome these obstacles...without ever knowing he's in any trouble. That's what makes MAN WITH A PLAN so funny.

MAN WITH A PLAN is very well made. I accidentily tuned into this flick one night while flipping channels, and I first thought it was for real. The filmmakers are very talented, and use those talents to make a funny and entertaining (albeit a bit long) "documentary". Reccomended.

Follow up on the real life Fred Tuttle
In the life imitates art vein, not only did Fred Tuttle run for Congress, but actually won the Republican nomination! However he announced that he was going to vote for the Democratic incumbant who was doing a fine job and hoped Vermonts voters would send him back for another term. They did. ... Read more

Reviews (1)

Green mountain masterpiece
Nice film about a young engaged couple who look to local Vermonters for advice on love and marriage. Good, simple chit-chat between the country folk and unsure couple. Movie is pretty much them trying to decide if they're right for each other, etc. It's also just a great look at Vermont in the spring. Something fun to watch if a marriage or Vermont are in your future, as they both are in mine. ... Read more

Reviews (3)

This is one nutty video
Okay, I watched this once, and I howled. It was so funny. Seems everybody who was in the movie was totally natural, nobody was acting, it was just so normal to meet these people just as though they were in your own NY neighborhood. Free flowing and most of all, naughty, I bought three copies of this movie because rarely do you come across a storyline so realistic and definately not over acted. It made my night, just watching the outrageous antics of this poor guy. Sometimes the path he takes makes you go, Uh oh!

I'm a dog like the main character
There are some fly sisters in this movie talking some serious yang - especially the booyaah with the perfume allergy. And the girl who "had to run through the bushes in her bra on." She did want it. I give it four stars because nobody ever takes all their clothes off, but I was still interested to the end. the show is funny!. You can buy the bootleg for ten dollars.

An excellent, arty, sex comedy of the 1980s.
This film reminds me of John Cassavetes 1959 movie "Shadows" because it is a stylized, B&W, authentic, improvisational look at a middle class, multicultural, bohemian New York subculture - the Long Island neighborhoods of Hempstead, Freeport, and Roosevelt--Howard Stern and Eddie Murphy's hometown. I saw it at the legendary Bleecker Street Cinema in the summer of 1990 and will never forget it. It's got a hip hop soundtrack that mixes heavy metal and strong island underground beats. (I think some of those Tribe-affiliated rappers were involved somehow.) The lead James Haig and (I gather) his brother Kevin Haig are a winning pair, looking for love in all the wrong places and having a hilarious time doing so. The women they encounter are mostly excellent actresses, and make this the absolute opposite of films like "Booty Call." If you grew up in an urban suburb in the late 1980's and like independent films, this one is a must see! I only wish the price were $19.99, because I bought one and have lent it out a dozen times and now I don't think I'm going to get it back. Why isn't it cheaper? So go rent it instead of buying it for $50 (thats a lot of movie tickets). ... Read more